Vintage Myrtle

Back of my practice Myrtle dress

Last weekend I finished my practice Myrtle dress. I wasn't sure if the cowl neck would look nice on me, but I love it! I bought some beautiful textured black fabric for my Myrtle, but I decided to make a practice version first. The only knit fabric I had on hand was some vintage fabric that has been in my stash since I first started sewing. I almost didn't have enough - I had to do some creative cutting, which is why the stripes on the top of the dress are perpendicular to the stripes on the skirt. 

This was a very enjoyable pattern to sew. With only a few pattern pieces and less fiddling with finishes, it came together very quickly. The most difficult part was encasing the elastic with the middle fabric fold. I had trouble pinning the stretched elastic band around the top of the skirt. My solution was to put the whole dress on my dressform and use the dressform to stretch the elastic while I pinned. It worked so much better, I was getting nowhere trying to stretch the elastic and pin at the same time.

I used my dressform to stretch the elastic while I pinned

Stretching the elastic band while sewing - only slightly tricky

On my next attempt, I'm considering making the bodice an inch-or-so shorter, but I'm not sure if I need to. What do you think? The bodice is a little baggy and hangs down slightly over the elastic. I don't think it looks bad, but it might be better if it didn't hang down.